HSW Latest Articles

Multiplication game

Kellie Mundell — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000

When it comes to psychological theories of what motivates people, the one most people have come across is Abraham Maslow’s concept of the “hierarchy of needs”.

Maslow ranked human needs, starting with the basics such as food and sleep, moving through security and self-esteem and ending at the top with self-actualisation, or the desire for personal growth and fulfilment.

British Sugar gets personal

Kellie Mundell — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:00:00 +0000

“If you’re serious about engaging with your workforce, one-to-one quality time is essential for success,” says British Sugar’s safety manager Ash Solanki. “We decided the key to achieving a real step-change in safety was to engage with the individual directly, rather than at site, department or shift level.”

Focus on careers: nerve tonic

Kellie Mundell — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000

There is no prescriptive list of tasks you can follow to ensure examination success; but there is lots of good advice that can help you significantly improve your performance on the day.

Of course, the most reliable way to succeed is by gaining the degree of knowledge and understanding appropriate to the qualification. We covered this in a previous article on revision techniques.

Shedding light on optical radiation

Kellie Mundell — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:05:00 +0000

April 6 2010 sees the arrival of the Control of Artificial Optical Radiation at Work Regulations (CAORWR is not an easy acronym so we’ll call them the Regs), which implement one of the EU Physical Agent Directives, number 2006/25/EC.

Trainer's toolkit: all aboard

Kellie Mundell — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:40:00 +0000

We are training people not just to give them facts and skills, but also to gain their involvement and commitment to working safely. So gaining their engagement is a fundamental success factor.

Get it and people will find the training enjoyable and go away and implement what they’ve learned. Lose it and they will dismiss it as “just more safety”.

SMEs: Well advised

Kellie Mundell — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:00:00 +0000

Though having access to competent health and safety assistance is a basic requirement of health and safety law, it is also one of the most difficult for smaller organisations to implement.

The main regulations (see box below) that require employers to have competent advice on hand, don’t actually define competence or specify skills or qualifications.

That’s understandable, since the necessary competences can vary widely and there are various ways to meet the requirement.

Hazardous environments: close to the wind

Kellie Mundell — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:00:00 +0000

In the last 20 years, the wind turbine generator (WTG) has grown from something nailed to the roof of an organic commune to a major component in the world energy supply system and an equally major presence in our landscape.

Visual tagging: on the label

Kellie Mundell — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:00:00 +0000

The Work at Height Regulations say that all equipment used on a project must be inspected and that records of those inspections should be kept on site. There’s no requirement in the Regs for a visual record of the inspection fixed to the equipment, but many leading companies find it’s the best way to track their compliance with the duty to maintain equipment in a fit state for use.

Trainer's toolkit: keeping trainees' attention

Kellie Mundell — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

One of the most common criticisms of trainers is that they talk in a boring way. We need to vary both pitch and volume so as to retain interest. When speaking to a group we probably need to speak more expressively, perhaps even dramatically, than we would normally do. This means varying the volume, putting some changes of pitch into your voice, and using pauses to allow the point you are making to sink in.

Workplace violence: in the line of duty?

Kellie Mundell — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:00:00 +0000

In some areas such as the ambulance service or retail, the problem of violent attacks on staff has been well documented as it has grown in recent years, though adequate explanations for the phenomenon have lagged behind the publicity that organisations such as the British Retail Consortium, the NHS or the trade unions have generated for it.

Accident reporting software: for the record

Kellie Mundell — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:55:00 +0000

“ReallySafe software will solve all your occupational health and safety (OHS) management problems. It requires no training and can be used by anyone in your organisation with almost no effort. It is the complete solution to ensuring you always comply with health and safety legislation. It is appropriate for any size of organisation working in any industry.”

Home cooking: designing a health and safety system

Kellie Mundell — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0000

It can be difficult to find your way through the advisory jungle. It seems that everyone has an idea how your business should be run safely. From the approved codes of practice, through British and European standards, industry guidance and legal case precedent, to public opinion or just advice over a beer from a fellow professional, there is no shortage of sources of advice.